EAL DEPARTMENT

During the 2022-2023 academic year, two EAL teachers joined the high school faculty This infusion of expertise allowed the high school to provide significant English as an Additional Language support to high school students in three important ways

First, all students who were identified as needing additional language support through WIDA testing were scheduled into English Foundations - an English language support class designed to quickly help students improve their vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency

Second, EAL teachers joined the instruction in core classrooms throughout the high school to provide co-teaching and co-planning support EAL teachers also worked individually with students to support their English language needs in content areas classes

Third, EAL teachers held regularly scheduled EAL-focused professional development sessions with high school departments to provide ongoing professional learning on EAL-focused topics, including integration of WIDA language standards, best practices in relation to coteaching models, and many more

This three-strand approach allowed 46% of the students originally scheduled into English Foundations to exit the program at the end of the first semester an incredible success rate for students in a short 18 weeks.